Sequenom reports $30.2 million loss

SAN DIEGO — Sequenom lost $30.2 million, or 26 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, the company said Thursday. In the same quarter a year ago, the maker of genetic analysis products lost $18.4 million, or 19 cents per share. Quarterly revenue of $22.9 million rose 68 percent compared with $13.6 million for the year-ago quarter.

Shares of Sequenom closed Friday after the announcement at $3.60, up 57 cents for the day.

The company said the increased loss was mostly due to growth in testing with its MaterniT21 PLUS test for fetal chromosomal abnormalities, introduced within the last year. Testing expenses are recorded when the service is completed, the company said, but revenue isn't recorded until payment is received. So there is a growing gap between billing and payment as the test volume is ramped up.

The test, performed on maternal blood, detects abnormally increased amounts of fetal DNA from chromosomes 21, 18 and 13. The extra DNA is produced by an extra third chromosome, or "trisomy." The best-known example of a third chromosome is 21, which causes Down syndrome.